Woman Suffers Broken Leg In Rite Aid Robbery

ROSTRAVER TWP. (KDKA) — A high school teacher was hurt over the weekend when another woman, who called herself “a junkie,” tried to rob her at a pharmacy in Rostraver Township.

It happened around 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Rite Aid located at the intersection of State Route 201 and Finley Road.

Erica Guadalupe, of Elizabeth Township, was in the drug store shopping when the female suspect walked in.

“The next thing I knew, she was inches from me,” said Guadalupe, “and she whispered, ‘I have a gun, I’m a junkie, give me your purse.’ I don’t know what made me say, let me see your gun.”

A struggle ensued. Guadalupe refused to let go of her purse, despite the suspect’s threat of a firearm.

“The would-be robber was preying on what she thought was the easiest victim, of course, in this case, she was wrong,” said Rostraver Police Lt. John Christner.

That’s when a Rite Aid employee entered the mix.

“She saw a person who was in need of help and did not hesitate,” Lt. Christner said.

The woman jumped in, pushing the suspect to the floor and pulling off her sweatshirt, likely where the implied gun was believed to be located.

As it turned out, the robber was not armed, but she was determined to get Guadalupe’s purse. But Guadalupe and the pharmacy clerk were just as determined that the robber would not succeed.

The suspect managed to grab her sweatshirt and escape, heading towards a nearby McDonald’s.

The suspect is described as a white female in her mid 20s, medium build, shoulder-length curly black hair, standing 5-feet tall. She was wearing royal blue sweatpants, black shoes and a gray sweatshirt with words across the chest.

With her leg in an air cast, Guadalupe is back at home now with her family. The ninth grade McKeesport teacher won’t be back in school immediately after she was hurt in the struggle.

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

In tussling with the robber, Guadalupe’s fibula was broken. She’ll have to wear the cast for four to six weeks. Despite the injury, she says she has no second thoughts concerning her decision to fight back.

“I hope she gets some help,” Guadalupe said. “I mean this whole idea how drugs are overtaking everything angers me so much. I know it’s a disease. I hope they find her because she was extremely desperate and she’s going to do this again to somebody.”

Anyone with information should contact Rostraver Police at 724-929-8811.

Ralph Iannotti began working as a KDKA-TV general assignment reporter in 1982. You can watch for his reports weeknights on KDKA-TV News at Eleven.
Ralph is an investigative reporter and produces a weekly segment called "Crime Stoppers" in...